Skye Date 3, Part 6: Time to Feast

Skye

The Lady of the Dance has prepared a great feast for the community in order to celebrate their salvation and Skye is the guest of honor. She doesn’t feel like she deserves it, but she gets the big chair in the middle of the big table at the very middle of it all. The Lady looms large over the gathering as she begins to speak.

“Hey, everybody! So glad to finally see all of you in person! I’m Eilistraee, drow goddess of the surface, freedom, nature, beauty, swordplay, and a whole bunch of other things, but you all knew that. Today is a good day, for you all survived the siege that had entrapped you for the last few months. For this great rescue, you have to thank my sweet little cinnamon roll of a champion, Skye, who grew up among you. I suppose you could also thank her briny wife, Harper, a matron in the service of one of my monastical orders, Scarlet, and even the starry-eyed Mattie, who is also here. But, still, thank Skye most of all!

After you all have recovered and have gone through some remediation, you all will be taken to another world, one where my presence can be properly felt. I will not abandon you again, my sisters. All of that will begin in the morrow, of course. Tonight, let’s party! Whoooooo!”

Skye, rubbing her thighs together, giggles at The Lady’s exuberance. Her wife is holding her hand, seemingly glad to not be sitting on a throne. Most everyone is eating and laughing and having a good time. Sheryl is dancing with another girl from the community and it doesn’t bother Skye one bit. No ma’am. Ms. Mattie is brazenly flirting with Scarlet, who is not completely opposed to the idea anymore. Mother Kimiko is staring daggers at Harper, but Harper is too busy trying to entertain her wife to pay much attention. All in all, as good of an impromptu full moon festival as Skye could wish for. And the Evensong sounds so pretty!

After dinner, the dancing truly starts. Harper summons her sword and it seems to sing along as she performs the dance. Skye almost gets lost in the moment, until Harper offers her a hand and they start to dance together. The parries, the thrusts, the shuffling of footwork. A merry whirlwind without bloodshed. When the song is done, Skye is wrapped up in Harper’s arms, head resting on the sea elf’s wedding scar. It’s magical.

And then the moment is ruined.

“I cannot hold my tongue any longer, Lady of the Dance! This monster is slaver scum and you should smite her!”

The Lady of the Dance throws a combat ready longsword at Mother Kimiko’s feet. “If you wish to duel, sister, go ahead. Cousin, I will not forgive you if you hold back like you did on your wedding night. Give you mother-in-law a proper duel.”

Harper rolls her eyes at the goddess (I must work on her devotion towards The Lady), then takes a defensive starting stance. “I’d prefer not to kill you for Skye’s sake. Are you sure we can’t...”

Mother Kimiko strikes hard and true, normally. But, when she moves into Harper’s reach with a killer’s intent, the sea elf is simply faster. She braces and slashes, straight through Mother’s guard, straight though her throat. The fatal wound seals up before Mother Kimiko’s knees hit the ground. Her sword clatters shortly thereafter, well out of reach. Harper wraps her arms around her. “Look, I’m so, so sorry about all of this, but I love your daughter and will do anything for her. While we are bound together in a primal, fundamental way, she is no **** of mine. And I refuse to let you see her that way for one moment longer.”

Mother Kimiko stares daggers at Skye, “That true, fruit of my womb?”

The withering glare. Skye stands tall against it. “It’s true, Mother. Harper is my lady love, not a slaver. She showed me The Lady of the Dance for the first time. She gave me the chance to worship Her true. And The Lady has blessed us both.”

“Fine. Daughter, let me go. I will relent, for now. But if you hurt her...”

“Then Eilistraee will smite me Herself. Thank you for giving me a chance, ma’am.”

The Lady looms large, “I will speak with you in private, cousin, if you would follow me. The rest of you, keep on partying!”

Honey

“Fish, I’ll trade you my girlfriend for this weird bug.”

Honey feels a little insulted at that, but, given the interrogation she just endured, she’s more relieved to be tossed aside at the moment. With a quip of “I got her revved up for ya, Josie!”, Daphne pushes the horny bunny into the wolf-girlfriend and gently pulls Honey towards her. Josie slams the door shut, scaring Honey a little. She starts to buzz away, head hung low.

“Hey, wait up, Honey! Where are you going?”

“I believe I made a grave mistake. I should get back to work.”

“What happened? It’s almost curfew.”

I’ll answer the implied question instead of the verbalized one. “My kind doesn’t actually sleep. I was planning on reading through some contracts during my quiescence.”

“Oh. Would you like some company at least? My roommate girlfriend is out on the date tonight, so I’m sleeping alone.”

“That would be acceptable, I suppose. Lead on.”

Honey buzzes along and follows the mermaid. She opens the door and the wasp-girl lands to walk in. After the door is closed behind her, Daphne asks, “What did Josie do? I mean, she’s my harem-sister and all, but she’s a little rough around the edges, if you get my drift. And don’t use your lawyer tricks to avoid answering.”

Drat. The mermaid is already onto me. And after the grilling from Ms. Wulf. Honey nervously lays on her side on the bed, hoping her allure would be enough to make Ms. Daphne forget her question. The mermaid lays beside her and gives her a look that says “Go on.”

“Ms. Wulf was the only one available and I sought out some advice of a personal nature. She was less than helpful, but, depending on the decision I make, I’ll need her assistance again. I feel like I ruined my chance before I decided whether to proceed.”

There. I answered, but vague enough to not really answer. Honey watches as the gears turn in the mermaid’s head. When Daphne smiles, Honey feels like she is in trouble again. “Well, Honey, you should have came to me in the first place! I know more about joining my Beloved’s harem than Josie. I’m guessing you are wanting to develop some romantic feelings so Josie’s thing would work, right? But you don’t know how, because your species doesn’t do feelings, right? Josie doesn’t exactly do romance. But I already went through your exact problem! So, ask me anything!”

“You are not going to make fun of me?”

“No. Was Josie picking on you? She does that. Usually, it’s a sign she likes you. Or she’s annoyed. Or breathing. It’s a fun quirk of her personality!”

Honey nods. “Well, I won’t pick on you, Honey,” Daphne continues, “so let me help. What can I help you with?”

Honey feels trapped. She was never one to argue a case in front of a judge or jury. So, once again, she shares her concerns. Daphne, for her part, looks like she is intently listening, nodding along. When Honey finishes, Daphne looks contemplative. “That is a tricky sea cucumber there, Honey. Before I changed them, my kind also really didn’t do the feelings thing, so I understand your problem. The first thing I’d tell you is that my Beloved would want you to treat her like a person and not just a means to an end, even if those ends are things she’d want for you. You heard her this morning go a little too harsh on Glitterdust. I mean, I get why, but still, treat her right. I know it’s going to be hard this week, but try to spend some time with her outside of ‘Hey, I’m your lawyer. Let’s do lawyer/client things.’ I’ll let you tag along with my date if you still want to pursue this by then and make sure you get some time alone with her if you do. Second, I get your hesitance about joining our family, but you aren’t just hooking up with my Beloved; you’re becoming a harem-sister to the rest of us. And this whole harem-sisterhood thing works best when we all like each other and touching each other’s not-cloacas. Where is yours, by the way? Never mind, not important at the moment. So, don’t shy away from us. Joining us today was a good call. Keep trying to be open and honest with us. You can count on me to support you.”

Daphne smiles and grabs her hand. It’s so warm. The wasp-girl brings it to where the mermaid would associate with her heart (though that is actually in the dorsal end of her abdomen). I suppose those contracts can wait, at least until Ms. Daphne is properly asleep. Honey smiles as she waits for the mermaid to doze. She didn’t count on the mermaid being such a tight hugger.

Harper

Harper follows some silvery moths to another avatar of Eilistraee. For a meeting place, this one is nice. A lovely copse of trees, unrecognizable to Harper, with spongy moss growing on the cave floor. It feels soft and slightly grippy. The fungi growing on the cave wall twinkle with bio-luminescence almost like stars. The air smells of strange flowers, with a surely artificial breeze gently blowing. The tinkling of several rivulets is heard. The only thing out of place is an office desk, made of dark mahogany, sitting in the middle of it all.

“There is a paper there for you to sign. And, before you ask, you’ll see your lawyer’s signature on it already. Pretty standard agreement, all things considered. A gift, as an apology. It’ll make sense once you read through it.”

Harper picks up the paper and reads it. Normal non-disclosure agreement, once you get past the nudity clause. Not that I spend a bunch of time dressed. Harper smirks as she sees what she is agreeing to not disclose. “What name do I use to sign this?”

The goddess sticks out Her tongue, snarking, “Just ‘Harper’ is fine, Aranel Tyalangan.”

With a poorly attempted flourish, Harper signs her name. Since she hasn’t had a chance to really develop one for her new name yet, it doesn’t have the flow of a proper signature. Harper hands the paper over, asking, “So, no more facade?”

“At least in private, Harper. Good call on getting a lawyer, especially since I’m the one paying the retainer. She’s… interesting. How you holding up? Last night was a rough one.”

Harper winces. “Not going to complain about why, but I’m still hurting. Scarlet helped make it manageable, but I can already sense a need to get another treatment. Dealing with an angry mother-in-law didn’t exactly help. Glad to help Skye’s community escape that potential massacre. How about you? This show isn’t exactly your cup of tea, Eilistraee.”

“I hate this, Harper, all of it. I hate the lot of you being kidnapped. I hate the harem binding process. I hate how much you all have been changed against your wills, especially you. I hate what had to be done to Vix. I hate what we had to do to you to save Dinah. I hate that I have to continue this travesty. But, I want to get all of you out of this. My sweet little cinnamon roll over there is a gem, Harper. Take care of her and the rest of them. And, once we can start a proper season on our own, we will hopefully do enough good to counteract the evil of this show.”

Harper leans back, watching Her struggle with Her anger. Glad it’s not directed at me this time. “So, what’s next?”

“Next, you go make love with your wife. She’s waiting for you.”